Tenshōin

Tenshōin (天璋院, February 5, 1836 – November 20, 1883), also known as Atsuko (篤子), was the wife of Tokugawa Iesada (徳川 家定), the 13th Shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan

She was the daughter of Lady Oyuki and Shimazu Tadatake (島津忠剛), who was the head of the Imaizumi Shimazu (今和泉島津) branch of the Shimazu in Satsuma.

She was originally named Katsu (一) by her parents. When she was adopted by Shimazu Nariakira, her name was changed to Atsuko (篤子), and later to Fujiwara no Sumiko (藤原の敬子) upon her adoption by Konoe Tadahiro.

It is said that Tenshoin liked dogs while her husband did not, so when she lived in Ooku she kept two cats, Michihime and Satohime.

Tenshōin was born in Kagoshima in 1835. In 1853, she became the adopted daughter of Shimazu Nariakira. On August 21, 1853, she travelled by land from Kagoshima via Kokura to the Edo jurisdiction, never to return to Kagoshima again.

Atsuko was thought to have been sent to Edo castle with the aim of helping Shimazu Nariakira politically. The question of the next heir to the Shogunate was divided between the choice of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, then head of the Hitotsubashi-Tokugawa house and Tokugawa Yoshitomi, then head of Kii-Tokugawa house and later known as Tokugawa Iemochi. In order to ensure that Yoshinobu became the next in succession, Atsuko was arranged to wed into the Tokugawa clan.

In November, 1856, Atsuko married Tokugawa Iesada. In 1858, both Tokugawa Iesada and Shimazu Nariakira died. The 14th shogun was decided to be Iesada's cousin and adopted son, Tokugawa Iemochi. Following the demise of her husband, Atsuko took the tonsure, becoming a Buddhist nun, and took the name Tenshōin. In 1862, as part of the Kōbu Gattai ("Union of Court and Bakufu") movement, Iemochi was married to Imperial Princess Kazu-no-Miya Chikako daughter of Emperor Ninkō, and younger sister of Emperor Kōmei. The Satsuma clan brought up the request for Tenshōin to return to Satsuma, but was rejected by Tenshōin herself. In 1866, Iemochi died. Tokugawa Yoshinobu became the next shogun. During the Meiji Restoration, Tenshōin and her daughter in law, Seikan'in (Kazu-no-Miya's name after tonsure) helped negotiate for the peaceful surrender of Edo Castle.

She spent her remaining years nurturing Tokugawa Iesato, the 16th head of the Tokugawa clan. She moved into Tokugawa Residence in Sendagaya, in the Shibuya Distric, Tokyo. She suffered from Parkinson's disease which eventually took her life in November, 20th 1883 at 47 years old. She was buried in Kaneiji in Ueno, Tokyo, together with her husband, Iesada.

The 2008 NHK Taiga drama Atsuhime (fifty episodes) was a dramatization of her life.

• Great great great great great great great grandfather: Shimazu Iehisa
• Great great great great great great grandfather: Shimazu Mitsuhisa (1616-1695)
• Great great great great great grandfather: Shimazu Tsunahisa (1632-1673)
• Great great great great grandfather: Shimazu Tsunataka (1650-1704)
• Great great great grandfather: Shimazu Yoshitaka (1675-1747)
• Great-great-great grandfather: Shimazu Tsugutoyo (1702-1760)
• Great-great grandfather: Shimazu Shigetoshi (1729-1755)
• Great-grand father: Shimazu Shigehide (1745-1833)
• Great-grand mother: Chima no Kata
• Grandfather: Shimazu Nariobu (1771-1841)
• Father: Shimazu Tadatake (1806-1854)
• Mother: Lady Oyuki
• Adoptive Fathers:
  • Shimazu Nariakira
  • Konoe Tadahiro
• Adoptive Mothers:
  • Tsunehime, daughter of Tokugawa Nariatsu and wife of Shimazu Nariakira
  • Shimazu Kyoko or Ikuhime (1807-1850), adopted daughter of Shimazu Narioki, adopted sister of Shimazu Nariakira and wife of Konoe Tadahiro, mother of Konoe Tadafusa and Konoe Atsumaro
• Husband: Tokugawa Iesada
• Adopted son: Tokugawa Iemochi

• Junior Third Rank